San Cristobal to Cancún
May 20th 1995
Paula came round the next morning at about midday. Ugh! I felt like shit! Not much sleep and a massive alcohol and coke hangover combined to make me feel worse than i'd felt for a very long time. She was off to Cancún that afternoon on the three o'clock bus.
We went out for a walk and to have a fruit juice or something. I was feeling quite depressed and had a strong feeling of wanting to go home - only, i didn't have a home to go to! It was a familiar feeling, but i hadn't had it like that for a long time. And i didn't know it then, but it was going to last, in a milder form, at least until i left Mexico.
At about half past two, after a lot of indecision, i decided to go with Paula to Quintana Roo. I had to frantically rush to get my stuff packed and get to the bus before three, which wasn't a very good thing to be doing at all, the way i felt! But we just about made it.
On the bus between San Cristobal and Ocosingo, we passed Oscar walking along the road. The Ecologist and a couple of other people were a little way in front of him, carrying a gigantic white cross on their shoulders! It was a very weird sight. I waved from the bus window and they all waved back.
Later on, not long after we'd passed through Palenque, a fair while after dark, an immigration official got on the bus and wanted to check our passports. That was when i discovered i'd left mine behind. And my travellers cheques! I remembered immediately i'd put them somewhere safe. Normally they were always in my bag and went everywhere with me, so i'd forgotten about it in the insane rush to leave.
The immigration officer said i'd have to get off and go back for it, but he didn't mean it, or at least if he did, he didn't push it, which was a good thing as i didn't fancy my chances of getting on another bus in the middle of nowhere after dark.
Shit! This was a real stuff-up! The main reason why i'd had to go to Quintana Roo was because my visa was about to run out and there was no point trying to renew it in Chiapas, as you only got fifteen days from the immigration people in that state. The mexican government didn't want foreigners in Chiapas (so they could slaughter the indigenes quietly without the rest of the world noticing). I was thinking of going to Belize. Then when i crossed back into Quintana Roo, i should have got a decent amount more time. There wasn't any need to leave the country though, i could have just renewed it in Cancún or somewhere. But i fancied a look at Belize anyway. Well, that was out now! Shit! Shit! Shit!